A Halloween's Carol
by Chlstarr
Summary: Mayor Mickey Mouse of Spookyville is a man of many things, but a lover isn't quite one of them...yet. When his own Cousin summons a few ghosts to change his mind about a particularly annoying Witch Minnie, how do you think he'd react? UPDATE: Added a better intro!


**AN**: Welcome to my 19th story ever! This is based off of DixieMame's Spookyville verse which is based off of Tokyo Disneyland's various Halloween parades specifically 2007, 2012-2013. And also its own parody of A Christmas Carol.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything Disney, The concept of the Spookyville verse belongs to Mellissa-DixieMame-Hypermegatailsfan-Shewhowantmouseears, etc. the only character I do own is Manfred Mouse, and the concept of Mickey's emotions controlling the weather when they get too intense. And Octavia Von Seckendorff is from Puella MadokaMagica which belongs to Shaft Studios.

Happy 86th Birthday Mickey and Minnie!

* * *

><p>Normalcy is an opinion, an opinion based on what tends to happen every day. To an outsider, whatever may happen every day would not be normal to them because they are a stranger to it. Thus, normal in Spookyville is some crows cawing, zombies moaning, the full moon's twilight atmosphere being eerie as ever, and the scariest, most powerful witch chasing after the Mayor of Spookyville…again. This time she was using spells with nets magically blasting out of her hands, yet the Mayor somehow managed to dodge them every time.<p>

Though, one could argue it was because he was getting help from Donald, his secretary, and Goofy, his personal chef, via Donald's own spell book and blasting spells at the witch in question to distract her.

Needless to say Mayor Mickey was not happy about any of this, moreso because he was expecting someone important to come in from the Spookyville train station, and he wanted to make sure the town would make a great first impression. Easier said than done since the crazy Witch Minnie wouldn't leave the poor Mayor alone, because she's dead set on stealing his heart…Not literally, but it's best not to give her such ideas. In any case, Mickey has been on edge all morning because he really wanted to make the best first impression to the V.I.P. coming in. Alas, with each passing net spell that he dodged, he was getting more and more agitated, and his anger level was dangerously rising…Slowly thankfully, as he did manage to keep his composure, lest he let Minnie see his wrath for the first time, unlike everybody else in town who simply hadn't seen it since the election day that had won him the title of Mayor. So he tried to not let his agitation show as he yelled over his shoulder.

"Minnie, knock it off! I don't have time fer yer antics taday! I've got a very important guest coming in and I can't have ya making a mess in Spookyville!"

"There wouldn't be a mess in Spookyville if you had just come quietly from the start, Mister Mayor~!" She sang from atop her broom as she threw another net spell at him.

That did it, no more Mister nice Mayor. He stopped abruptly and turned around, summoned an open door, the spell went into it, then he summoned another open door behind her, and the spell came out and caught her in her own web so to speak. All this was in the blink of an eye, thus as soon as she was caught in her own web in midair, Donald and Goofy could not stop their momentum and as soon as they passed by from underneath, she fell forward from the spell's momentum, inevitably making her crash into Donald and Goofy face first.

"MINNIE I SAID ENOUGH! GET IT THROUGH YER HEAD THAT I DON'T HAVE TIME FER YER STUPID ANTICS! NOW CLEAN THIS MESS UP AND GO HOME!" Mickey yelled at the top of his lungs in an unrecognizable anger. The wind seemed to pick up around him, and the sky got darker than what was considered normal, as if a storm were brewing. However there wasn't supposed to be a storm for another four days, and this is the accuracy of magic to forecast the weather we're talking about.

"Donald, Goofy! C'mon, we've got a train ta catch." Mayor Mickey ordered with the same unrecognizable tone, and simply walked away. Donald and Goofy glanced at each other before removing themselves from the dog pile and following suite. The Mayor didn't dare look into Minnie's eyes, as he did not want to see the fear in them and make him soften up with regret of his outburst. No, he wanted to make sure his scary image burned into her brain so she'd leave him alone for the rest of the day. He'd let himself regret it later, right now he had a job to do.

Believe it or not, Minnie wasn't fazed by his outburst. Stunned at first yes, but instead she was thrilled, she didn't know he could be so forceful! It sent chills up her spine just thinking about it, and she knew then that he'd be a wonderful father to their future little mayors and witchies. Speaking of her beloved Mayor, because his sudden outburst was intimidating, she wisely decided to follow half of his instructions. She'd leave him alone, antics-wise, but she wouldn't clean up as there was no need to. Those net spells would disappear on their own within the hour. In the meantime, while she won't try to capture him, she'll still follow him, for she was curious as to whomever this very important guest was for her darling Mayor to be on edge over. So she used a mirage spell in a dark alley, her fake half flying home on her broomstick while her real self would continue to secretly follow her dearest Mayor.

Meanwhile, Donald the secretary and Chef Goofy didn't dare talk or try to make light conversation on the rest of the way to the train station. They knew the consequences of Mayor Mickey's wrath all too well. Sure they'd had only ever seen him this angry once before, but that was one time enough for both the duck and dog. It takes a lot to push all the right buttons to even make the Mayor angry, since he's such a nice and cheery fellow the majority of the time. However, if he does get angry and someone ends up on the receiving end of his wrath, they'd better do what he says or else…well, neither the secretary nor chef knew what that 'or else' bit entailed, but they knew it would consist of severe consequences to be afraid of for sure.

Knowing that it was probably Minnie's first time seeing the Mayor like this, Donald quickly looked over his shoulder to see if Minnie was wise enough to go home, as even _he_ knew those net spells would take care of themselves within the hour. He sighed in relief to find that she had wriggled herself free of her own net spell, ran into a nearby ally and flew away heading toward her…ahem, hazardous abode. Not knowing that he just saw a mirage. Apparently, Donald's sigh was loud enough for the Mayor to hear and guess what he was sighing about.

"Is she gone?" Mayor Mickey asked suddenly.

"Uh, yeah, she's flying home now." Goofy answered, having looked over his shoulder as well to see what Donald was looking at.

"And don't worry about the nets, Mister Mayor. They'll disappear within the hour, that's why she's not cleaning them up." Donald added as an effort to not make the Mayor even angrier and he already was with Minnie.

"Oh good! Now we can do everything on time fer once!" With that Mickey was back to his cheery self, the wind had died down, and the dark clouds had dissipated. Plus, they arrived at the train station.

"That was weird." Donald mumbled at the sudden change in the weather. Goofy was the one to actually ask about it.

"Grawrsh, Mayor, I didn't know yer feelin's controlled the weather."

"Huh? Oh, no, _no_. No, that was just a coincidence, the forecasters did say that it'd be windy and cloudy taday." Mayor Mickey lied through his teeth so easily that it was nearly convincing.

"Coincidence my foot, I'm pretty sure that happened the last time too! Only back then he was mad enough for lightning to strike." Donald whispered to Goofy, referencing the time the Mayor was elected. Mickey had caught one of the candidates cheating red-handed and threw a hissy fit and a few punches at the guy. Since the election was basically a scariness contest, and Mickey had ratted the guy out, (for the lack of a better term) and fought him in front of the public, Mickey naturally won with the votes of those who hadn't decided yet.

"What was that, Don?" Mickey asked, having heard his secretary mumble about something but couldn't translate what. Donald defended himself by changing the subject.

"Uh, nothing Mister Mayor, we were just wondering if you could remind us of who it is that we're looking for now that we're here."

"Ah, yeah, guess I fergot ta tell ya…We're looking for Warlock Manfred Mouse." Mickey replied. As if on cue, Donald was quickly flipping through the pages of his book on upcoming witches and warlocks, until he finally came to the page he was looking for.

"Huh, it says here that Warlock Manfred Mouse is not only an excellent magic user, coming in a close second or third to both Merlin and Magica De Spell, but he also excels in making love potions, has a degree in psychology, and is a part time marriage counselor while being full time on the Holiday Council representing Halloween." Donald read aloud, and then he got a good look at the picture featured and quacked in surprise. "Hey! This super important fella looks an awful lot like you, Mister Mayor!"

"Heh, glad ya noticed. Ya see there's a good reason fer that. It's 'cause he's my-!"

"Cousin!" Came a voice from behind them. They all turned, Mickey turned the quickest, and saw a mouse about the same height and age as he was, even the same facial features. The only difference besides his clothing proving that he was of warlock status, (with a much shorter cape than Mortimer's) was his fur and nose color. His fur was as white as the thousands of strands it takes to see the strength of a spider's web, and his nose was as pink as a Peachy Peach.

"Long time no see, Mickey. Still the Mayor of Spookyville and have yet to lose your temper, I see." Manfred said as he walked over to Mickey too give him a warm, firm handshake.

Mickey's ears drooped instantly at the remark, with an incredibly guilty look on his face. Donald was the one to break the news after introducing himself and Goofy, which Manfred acknowledged and thanked them for taking care of his cousin.

"A-actually, the Mayor _just_ lost his temper today and not too long ago…"

"Did he now? So those thunderheads I saw not even 15 minutes ago were his." Manfred mused aloud, and the chef and secretary glanced at each other out of confirmation that Mickey's emotions could indeed control the weather if they were intense enough. "What caused it if I may ask?"

"Just a little pest control problem concerning one of our notorious local Witches, but yer on official Holiday business, so ya don't hafta worry yerself over somethin' so petty." Mickey replied, hoping to get down to business. As casual as he could be around his cousin, he couldn't forget that Manfred was an official Holiday Councilman now, so things had to be serious, or so he thought.

"Actually, I'm not." Manfred remarked simply. The trio of Spookyville's town hall dropped their jaws and turned to stone in shock. Manfred noticed their surprise and continued. "Well, I trust Mickey's judgment with how he runs the place with you two helping, so Spookyville is the only town in the whole Halloween realm where I can shirk my paperwork. I'm actually here to visit an old friend and I don't mean my cousin, thank you very much." Just then he looked up and saw something just behind the trio. "Ah, there you are Minnie! I was wondering where you were."

"Manfred! Oh it's so good to see you! I wasn't expecting you for another week or two." Minnie exclaimed happily, bounding up to Manfred and giving him a hug. This too, shocked the trio into stone statues. Minnie never usually associated with males outside of Mickey or her chipmunk familiars, and Mortimer once to an extent, so this was incredibly shocking to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Mickey especially because he didn't even know his own cousin even _knew_ Minnie.

It took a few tries because he was still in shock, but Mickey finally had to make his statement upon Minnie's interruption, though forgetting that Manfred was the one who made her presence known, and forgetting that the net spells would disappear on their own within the hour. "Minnie, I thought I told ya ta clean up the mess ya made in town and go home!" He made a move to grab her wrist and try to drag her away from Manfred, however, Manfred stopped Mickey in his tracks with a simple spell made through eye contact alone. Mickey couldn't move and he was the only one to notice.

"But Mister Mayor, I don't have to clean up. Those net spells I threw at you will disappear on their own! Besides, I was curious to see who your important guest was." Minnie explained with a slight whine. "Now that I know that it's just Manfred, I was wondering if he could help me with something…after he's finished his visit with you of course, Mister Mayor." She said with a glance up at Manfred, who nodded in agreement that he'd help her with whatever she desired, after Mickey was finished with him.

Third time's a charm of shock with the Mayor, the secretary, and the chef. This shock derived from the fact that Minnie never took Mickey's job as Mayor into consideration, as she never cared if he was going to be late for any kind of appointment. Donald and Goofy though, figured she was behaving herself for once because she saw a taste of Mickey's wrath, and concluded that that was why she was being considerate all of a sudden.

Remembering that Mickey was still paralyzed from his spell, Manfred blinked with meaning to release him from it, so Mickey could speak. "Fine. Go on ahead with him Minnie, he wasn't here fer me anyway, he was here fer you. We're pretty busy fer the day anyway right Donald?" Mickey said coldly, gritting his teeth with each word.

Donald only hesitated because they really were anticipating on Manfred arriving on Holiday business for Halloween, so the entire day was booked exclusively to their time with him. So he answered with the only thing he could say. "Yes sir, all booked, busy to high hell's bells."

"Oh thank you, Mister Mayor!" Minnie squealed in glee, and while that sound particularly irked Mickey under the fact that it was aimed at her excitement for spending time with Manfred, she surprised him when she kissed his cheek to show no ill will and that he was still the object of her affections. If she had noticed the slight jealousy in his tone, she didn't show it except most likely for that kiss. "C'mon Manfred! I need your help on love potion seven-hundred-eighty nine!" She tugged on Manfred's hand eagerly.

"Just a minute, dearie. I do have to tell my cousin one last thing before we depart." Manfred told her coolly, before turning his gaze back to Mickey, who was giving him a serious and stern look. Manfred merely chuckled and shot his arm out, touching his right index finger to Mickey's forehead and said, "**_Be wary of this night for three lessons will be learned. A peek at your heart where love is concerned. Be wary of the hours that come after midnight, and learn those lessons well or else I will give you fright_**."

Mickey knew it was a spell, but of what kind he didn't know, as his own magic was strange in that he could make doors appear and disappear at will. Manfred lowered his hand and bid his cousin "Adieu," before catching up with Minnie and heading towards her cottage.

Mickey's knees buckled as soon as Manfred was out of sight, but his assistants immediately came to the rescue before his knees even hit the ground. "Grawrsh, Mister Mayor, are ya alright?" Asked Goofy worriedly. Even he knew Manfred did something to the Mayor.

"Yeah, what did he do to you?" Donald added.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm not sure what he did, but nothing's happened so far, so I think we're good. So what's the first thing on the schedule after Manfred's visit, Donald?" Mickey replied as if nothing had even happened regardless of the fact that he's still halfway to the ground because of his buckled knees.

"Uh, about that…" Donald said hesitantly as he helped Mickey straighten himself up. "We have a tendency to take official Holiday representative's visits so seriously that we book the whole day to spend it entirely with them. And since in this case, your cousin blew us off, we pretty much have the whole day to ourselves. This is the biggest break we've had in a long time…unless you want me to book something and get _some kind_ of important matter done?" Donald looked at the Mayor curiously, double checking Mickey's mood, but the mouse gave no emotional indication of anything.

"Nah, we deserve a break just this once. Anything important can wait 'til tomorrow. Ya can finally go on that date with Daisy if ya want, and Goofy can do whatever he likes. I'll just go see if I have any paperwork that needs ta be filled out." Mickey replied with not much emotion, so it was hard to tell what he was feeling.

"Thanks Mister Mayor, that's awfully generous of ya!" Goofy clapped his hands in happiness, then yelped in pain as his ear was yanked down to Donald's level so the duck could whisper in Goofy's ear.

"Don't let him outta your sight Goofy. I don't trust whatever spell Manfred put on him."

"I gotchya, I'll make sure he's well fed and happy, a-hyuck!" Goofy replied with enthusiasm.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Donald, but I'll be fine, I really am gonna go see if there's any paperwork fer me ta do. And thanks fer the meals, Goofy." Mickey replied over his shoulder to indicate to the both of them just how sensitive his hearing really was. "Manfred means well, really he does. An' anything he does fer me is fer my own good, but how much he wants ta make it look like an elaborate prank, depends on how much he wants ta twist my fate. Judging by the way his spell sounded, I'd say he wants ta really twist my fate, an' I've got a hunch that he wants ta twist me inta Minnie's direction. Since those two workin' on love potions really ain't good news. Minnie may get it wrong every time, but Manny's an expert at it. Although, whatever spell Manny put on me probably won't happen until after midnight, so I guess we don't have ta worry too much." With that, he headed home to his mansion.

Goofy followed, because he both heeded what Donald told him to do and because he couldn't think of any better way to spend his free time. While Donald was not going to let an opportunity such as this slip by and took the Mayor's advice to go out on that date with Daisy.

* * *

><p>Despite anything that his assistants thought, Mickey did do what he said he would, doing paperwork into the wee hours of the night. Goofy had long since departed to bed a few hours after he served Mickey dinner, while Mickey himself continued to work diligently in every effort to get the image of Manfred being with Minnie out of his head. His tiredness was starting to wear on him and he honestly thought it was the reason he 'thought' he heard an explosion. Looking up just to make sure he was hearing things, he found what he assumed to be the source. The fireplace in his office was emitting purple smoke. Wait, <em>what<em>?

When the cloud of purple smoke settled, Mayor Mickey gasped at the figure that caused the smokescreen. It was a little mouse boy that looked exactly like the Mayor, but simply wore a purple hoodie with fake horns, a furry skull pompom at the tip with some fur around the opening of the hood that served as the trim. He also had white shorts and fur spats on his red crakows and a matching pumpkin scepter that also had horns on it. Mickey knew this had to be his younger self, because he remembered wearing these clothes when he was a kid. Back then, he was trying to be the scariest thing around and had used that scepter to help him concentrate his powers better until he was old enough to not need it.

"Wha-?! H-how are ya here?! I don't remember using my door magic ta try and travel through time!" The Mayor sputtered.

"Oh, I'm not really you. I'm the ghost of Halloween's past! Yer cousin, Manfred summoned me and the others ta come and teach ya a lesson. I only look like this, because this is what ya see when ya think of the past." The boy replied.

"A lesson?! What kind of a lesson does Manfred want me ta learn at this hour?!" Mickey demanded in irritation. His cousin always pulled some kind of trick on him, even if it was for his own good, it was always annoying. Of course, Manfred only ever pulled tricks on him if it was for his own good.

"A lesson concerning a very powerful witch ya just happen ta know, and avoid. What I and the others are gonna teach ya in these three hours is fer **_you_ **ta learn and decide what ta do with. I'm just the messenger." The younger look-a-like replied.

"Really?" Mickey asked skeptically. He already didn't like the sound of where this was going.

"Not that I expect ya ta believe me, but yeah, basically. Now c'mon! I've only got an hour ta do this an' ya need ta be reminded of what ya did exactly that made the witch girl fall in love with ya!" The hooded boy explained. Then he grabbed the Mayor's hand and dragged him through a door he conjured with a wave of his scepter. Mickey noted that the door looked different from the ones he himself was able to make, and thus concluding that the boy wasn't really him, though he had similar powers.

Within an instant they were in the courtyard of Magica De Spell's Wonderful Ward of Witches, (which Mickey recognized immediately) and broomstick class was underway.

"I remember this place. This was one of the first places I had to make an official visit sometime after I first became Mayor." Mickey said aloud, forgetting he didn't have to tell that to the ghost of Halloween's past. The ghost didn't seemed to mind, and humored him anyway as if he'd been getting that reaction from everyone he was summoned to visit.

"That's right, but this is also where you first met yer little pest control problem as ya once put it this morning." The Mayor's look of awe fell at the reminder of the insult he made behind Minnie's back. But he only felt justified because she was extremely irritating this morning.

Suddenly his attention was drawn upwards at the sudden battle in the sky. One snobby looking girl in particular was blasting spells at everyone else in the air, trying to show off by declaring that the ward had no need for weak witches, and she was aiming most of the spells at Minnie to boot.

"Minnie! Look out!" Mickey couldn't help but exclaim worriedly. Then, one of the spells nicked Minnie and knocked her off her broom. Mickey started to run towards where she was going to land but the ghost of the past stopped him with his scepter.

"These are but shadows that have long since passed. No one can see nor hear you. An' ya certainly can't touch 'em, now sit tight an' keep watchin'." The hooded Mickey look-a-like drolled boredly. He'd clearly gone through that speech numerous times too. Then he pointed back up to the sky, and the Mayor followed his gaze.

Up in the sky as Minnie still fell, the snobby looking girl threw another spell at her, but the spell went through a door that appeared from nowhere. Then another door appeared behind the snob and threw the spell back at her, all while the Mayor of this past time period caught Minnie in his arms.

_"Are ya alright, miss?" He had asked with a little bit of delay as he had hesitated to make sure his opponent wouldn't attempt another attack. When he decided it was clear enough that the snob wasn't going to get back up just yet, he put Minnie down._

_"O-oh, y-yes! I think so. Th-thank you for saving me, Mister Mayor…But, maybe that girl was right…Maybe I really don't belong here, I've never been good at anything…" She trailed off as she numbly looked at the ground. The Mayor merely smiled and put her hat back on her head and decided to give her some words of advice that helped him get through his days in school._

_"The only person who can decide where ya belong is yerself, miss. Just because someone's a little slower than the crowd doesn't mean they couldn't be better than the whole bunch of 'em. Just take yer time, and believe in yerself. And if ya ever feel ya can't… shucks, I'll always believe in ya. So that's one person down!"_

Meanwhile, the present Mayor looked on in astonishment as he was absolutely baffled and dumbfounded by the whole thing. He remembered giving that speech to somebody on one of his earliest visits after he was elected, but for the life of him he could never remember who it was that he gave the speech to, and now he knew. Then it dawned on him, saving her from hitting the ground was the very tip of the iceberg, and then his speech to cheer her up solidified her new resolve to make him hers.

When Minnie moved to Spookyville and made her first attempt at winning his heart by trapping him in a giant Jack-O-Lantern, he had always wondered why. At the time as far as he was concerned, he had never met her before. Plus, even then he was still getting used to his busy schedule and as far as he knew, he wasn't very well known. Then, there was the fact that Minnie loudly declared that none of it had anything to do with politics, she wanted him and only him. Now, looking at this scene from a part of his past that he vaguely remembered, it all made sense. He was nice enough to save her, to stand up for her and put her hat back on her head. All she wanted was him, but he denied her advances like a picky child that didn't want to eat their vegetables.

"Why did Manfred summon ya ta show me this?" He finally asked, still in denial even with the truth staring at him in the face.

"Ta teach ya a lesson of course, an' don't forget that's all I can say. 'Sides, this is only the intro, and I've only got fifteen minutes left ta show ya stuff. C'mon, let's go to a more recent past." The boy said and grabbed Mickey's hand again to pull him through another portal.

The kid was right, this "past" was a little more recent, about three years ago to be exact. It was the day that Warlock Mortimer came to town with Minnie on his arm. Only because Minnie wanted to know how to raise the dead in case she accidentally killed Mickey during one of her usual chaotic attempts at winning him over.

"Look at the expression on yer face as Minnie and Mortimer pass by ya," the younger look-a-like advised. Mickey did as he was told and looked at his past self that was hiding under the table outside a café with Donald and Goofy. The past Mayor was hiding because Minnie had been spotted by Goofy, but Mortimer's presence was an ugly surprise in Mickey's opinion. Even Donald and Goofy were surprised, but were more pleased with the situation since it would have meant that Minnie would leave the Mayor alone if she went and courted someone else. However, Mortimer being there with Minnie on his arm, _and making her smile for Halloween's sake_, was such an ugly surprise that envy was clearly written on his face, and interestingly enough was mirrored by the Mickey of the present. Yes, even now the current Mickey still felt the tinges of jealousy. Regardless of Minnie's more than innocent reasoning minutes later of wanting to know how to raise the dead, the whole thing of Minnie smiling at Mortimer just didn't sit right with him.

"Even now ya still feel it dontchya?" The Ghost of Halloween's Past noted. The Mayor didn't say anything and the expression remained on his face as he watched Minnie explain her actions, inevitably forgetting about Mortimer completely in the process. With his expression remaining, Mickey reluctantly turned his eyes to the Ghost that looked like a younger version of himself. "That feeling alone is your lesson from me. Now…let's go to an even more recent past, before my time is up,'k?" The Mayor still didn't say anything and just let the Ghost Halloween's Past drag him along into another portal, and by the sound of it, it would be the last portal from him.

As promised, this past was the most recent, as it featured another time when the mayor felt the tinges of jealousy. The day Malice Mickey was made into being, and went right for Minnie, wanting her to be his secretary once he got rid of the original Mayor and won the title for himself.

"And why pray tell, didja hafta show me this?" Mickey asked the child look-a-like.

"Mostly for emphasis on the lesson from the last one. Other than that I'm actually leading ya up ta dealing with the representative of Halloween's Present. I say 'representative' because he wasn't summoned, he was paid. In any case, just don't forget what ya've learned, and remember: Denial is the clincher." The Ghost of Halloween's Past said cheerfully as he started to vanish. Even when he was completely gone, Mickey looked on as the scene continued with the Mayor of the time having a tug-of-war match with Malice over Minnie, who was smiling deliriously because two Mickey's were fighting over her. Suddenly, Malice turned to the current Mickey and walked out of the scene from the past, leaving a clone of himself to continue what happened, and walked up to the Mickey of the present.

"Hiya, Mr. Goody two-shoes, I'm the representative of Halloween's Present, _our_ cousin Manfred is paying me good money ta be here so don't give me any lip, ya hear?" Malice Mickey said casually, though his wicked grin said he was going to enjoy this regardless to how ever the Mayor was going to react.

"Manny, seriously **_paid ya_ **ta do this?" Mickey asked incredulously. Manfred Mouse was many things, a trickster even, when he had to be, but even Mickey didn't know how low his dear cousin could and would stoop to get what he wanted.

"I know it's hard ta believe. Heck, even I was surprised, but then, who else knows you better at this current point in time than me?" Malice's grin grew even wickeder if that was even possible. The Mayor pouted and Malice continued with a dark chuckle. "Aw, don't look at me like that. I know more about you than ya think after all. I should anyway since I'm the embodiment of every dark secret and feeling ya carry. An' we have Mortimer ta thank for that now don't we?"

It was true, Malice Mickey is indeed the embodiment of the Mayor's suppressed darkness. Every dark secret, thought and sin the Mayor had, Malice was made up of and magnified, and he was summoned by Mortimer to boot. Mortimer's original plan, when he summoned Malice, was to use him to beat the Mayor in a duel in order to win the title of mayor for himself. Needless to say it backfired greatly since Malice has a mind of his own and wants the title himself, but fortunately is quite lazy about it half the time and doesn't even try to take the title, especially when even he has a bad day. On especially busy scheduled days for the Mayor, (regardless of whether or not Minnie is chaotically making her attempts) all he secretly wants to do is sleep all day and not have a care in the world. Hence Malice's laziness.

"Besides," Malice continued. "You an' I both know the kid was right. _Denial is the clincher_."

The Mayor couldn't hold his own anger any longer and swung a fist aiming for Malice's face, but Malice dodged the swing with ease and even had a bored expression as he turned and scruffed the Mayor by the back collar of his dress shirt like a kitten.

"C'mon now, I've only got an hour ta mess with yer head. Manfred _really_ wanted me ta show ya stuff too, so shut up and deal with it!" Malice growled as he carried his goody-goody counterpart through a shadowy black hole that served as his version of a portal, as his powers allowed him to control shadows and use them as weapons.

Now they were in Minnie's house, where the two Mickey's began to witness a conversation between Minnie, her chipmunk familiars, Chip and Dale, and her guest Manfred Mouse, Mickey's cousin twice removed on his father's side.

_"I just don't know what I'm doing wrong, Manfred. I've tried every trick in the book at this point, and that counts the over seven-hundred-fifty love potions I've made!" Minnie exclaimed disheartedly as she stirred her latest batch of love potion, lord only knows what number it was now, but then again Minnie kept track of that anyway and it really was her seven-hundred-eighty-ninth batch, and this time Manfred was helping her, as love potions happened to be his specialty._

_"Not every trick, you haven't tried staying away from him for a bit to see if he'll react. Absence makes the heart grow fonder you know." The white furred mouse replied as he handed her the ingredients she needed._

_Mickey was appalled that his own cousin was helping her scheme on getting him to marry her. He felt betrayed and yet…Not really since now this plan would back fire since Mickey now knew about it all thanks to Manfred setting this whole thing up._

_"Oh, you know I can't go through with that! I have to see my darling Mayor at least once a day." Minnie grinned and steadily chuckled at her little vow to herself. The sight of the Mayor a day kept the funny farm away, she'd say to herself._

_"But haven't you done it before? Not seen him for a few days I mean." Manfred asked curiously._

_"That doesn't count, I was asleep for those few days after summoning that fire breathing dragon." She retorted._

_"And left the whole town to deal with the mess the dragon was making while she slept!" Piped up Chip, one of Minnie's familiars._

_"But he was kind of cuddly once ya got past the teeth and the fire breathing!" Piped up Dale, the other familiar._

_"Did Mickey at least worry about you during that?" Manfred asked the maiden witch, unfazed by the apparent catastrophe the dragon itself had caused Spookyville._

_"Hardly! The Mayor was furious with her! The dragon never came anywhere near here so it was obvious that it was her doing!" Chip scoffed indignantly._

_"Next thing we know we get restraining orders in the mail just about every day." Dale sighed sadly._

_"But of course she ignores them!" Chip finished, jabbing a thumb at his mistress._

_"Well, my cousin always was stubborn, I know he'll come around eventually, but it looks like he's going to need a push from me if anything. I know for a fact that he does care, if Malice Mickey is anything to go by. Which he is." Manfred said calmly taking precaution to put extra emphasis that Malice Mickey was enough proof to go by._

_"And if you're wrong and he doesn't care?" Minnie asked with a small hint of sadness that she hadn't emitted since her early days at the Wonderful Ward of Witches. Manfred caught it but pretended to not have noticed, he knew she didn't like to feel vulnerable._

_"Try, try again. Haven't you practically lived by that motto all this time?" Manny replied in a cheery tone in efforts to get her spirits back up._

_"Yes, but lately I've been having doubts. He hasn't shown any sign of remembering the day we met at Magica De Spell's Wonderful Ward of Witches. Besides, I stink at being a witch, nothing I've tried on him has worked. Maybe I should quit being a witch while I'm ahead." She admitted sadly, as a timer on the oven in her kitchen dinged to indicate something was done and ready._

_"Well, I can't stop you from quitting witchhood if you're that set on it, but I can give you suggestions. If you do quit, you should open your own restaurant, 'cause holy cheese whirlicurs these biscuits are good!" Manfred exclaimed excitedly as he bit into a biscuit fresh from the oven, he didn't seem to mind the heat much at all. "But if you do keep trying as I urge you to do, then let me at least tell you this," He cleared his throat before he continued. "Sweetheart you're a menace to Spookyville's society according to my cousin, Mayor Michael 'Mickey' Mouse, his secretary Donald Fauntleroy Duck, and his personal Chef Goofy. The title **"menace"** isn't given lightly, and regardless of the fact Town Hall's staff is made up of just the aforementioned three, they only give the title menace to someone who's extremely powerful and annoying. Though you are both in their eyes it's your power they fear most, not how annoying you are even if it does play a factor in the three of them not being able to be on time for a good chunk of scheduled appointments._

_"I mean, look how far you've come since the day you met Mickey, you can't tell me your magic sucks that much if all three of Spookyville's officials run in fear of your antics. If only that snobby witch with a capital 'B' could see you now. I'm sure she'd seethe in jealousy._

_"The only reason none of your tricks have worked as far as your plans go, is because my cousin is too clever and stubborn for his own good." Manfred declared, then sighed in remembering exactly how his cousin is sometimes. "I should know, I grew up with the guy. His stubbornness and curiosity got us into more trouble than you could imagine, and nearly got us killed on more than one occasion. He was so adventurous back then… but after he became Mayor, it's just work, work, work. You're probably the only reason he hasn't gotten ansty enough to take a vacation to go on adventures, Minnie. Dodging your antics give him that rush of adrenaline he felt whenever he and I went on adventures together back in the day. Which is why I urge you to go through with my suggestion of merely staying away from him for a few days, but only until he gets paranoid enough to check up on you. You could even push it further by-!"_

The rest of Manfred's speal was cut off because an hour had passed and Malice Mickey's time representing Halloween's Present was up.

"Wait! What was Manny gonna say?! C'mon Malice! Ya can't leave me hanging like this!" Mayor Mickey complained, as the scenery of Minnie's house faded to pitch black.

"No choice but ta, Pal. My time is up fair and square, but I will tell you this since it is part of Manfred's lesson. If the shadows of Minnie's doubts do not change, she will give up and leave Spookyville, and not even Manfred's optimism can change her mind. In the extent of the future that I _can_ see, _all_ I see is an empty little cottage without an adorable scheming witch living in it." Malice replied wistfully, as uncharacteristically as that was for him. "Welp, so long, Pal! Have fun with our future self!" With that, he disappeared though a black hole he created, leaving Mickey all alone in the darkness.

Suddenly a door appeared, but of course Mickey didn't conjure it. The door opened and out popped another Mickey! This one looked a little bit older, but only by about two or three years. Mickey estimated this with his best guess work because the Mickey before him was wearing similar colors and designs compared to his own current formal mayor attire. The purple pants were the same, as was the main color orange, and the windowed doors motif shown through his pockets looking like menacing eyes. The main differences were that he wore a light blue ascott, his top hat was orange with the same light blue spiraling together, and most importantly, he nixed the cape and held a baton in his hands.

"Are… you…me from the future?" the Mickey of the present asked cautiously.

"Yes and no. Yes, because you will look the way I do eventually. No, because I am merely the essence of your future as it stands now, therefore I am the Ghost of Halloween's Future." The 'future' Mickey replied. He looked quite bored and maybe even a little depressed at how things ended up for his timeline.

"So, what's with the new duds?" Mickey asked, not knowing where else to start with his barrage of questions.

"Really? Out of every question ya wanna start with, ya start with that?" Future asked in bewilderment. Usually people ask to get to the case and show what needs to be shown.

"We've got a whole hour don't we?" Mayor Mickey shrugged shyly.

"True, alright, ya win. Ta explain my attire, I'm not the Mayor anymore. I retired and took on a more enjoyable lifestyle by being the conductor of Spookyville's Orchestra." The mouse from the future explained, flicking his baton to the side then flicked it back into his hand.

"What about Minnie? Does she finally leave me alone?" Mickey asked hopefully. The mouse before him frowned at his enthusiasm and gripped his baton a little tighter, quite noticeably.

"Of course she does, but it's nothing _you_ should be happy about." Future said coldly. His tone then softened as he bowed his head enough that the rim of his top hat covered his eyes. "Manfred's plan works too well, especially since ya never showed any signs of caring. Soon the plan goes too far, and Minnie moves to another town an' tries ta ferget all about ya." He explains as the environment around them shifts to the end of a wedding where everyone throws rice at the newlyweds. However, the bride and groom in question shock Mickey to high heavens. "As ya can see," Future Mickey continued, "Minnie ended up marrying Manfred. It was supposed ta be the fullest extent of their plan, but somewhere along the way it stopped being a plan and became her choice ta give up on ya! It doesn't help that Donald hid the wedding invitations as soon as they came in the mail, but by the time I finally changed my mind about Minnie it was too late! She had already had her first child with _our cousin_!" With each sentence and breath he raised his voice in anger, until he started waving his baton and his free hand wildly s music started to blast from nowhere.

The present Mickey recognized the song after a few seconds of just mentally calling it the dark waltz. It was Symposium Magarum a piece originally composed and conducted by a witch named Octavia Von Seckendorff. Aside from that, his feelings were conflicted greatly, he pitied his future self's sadness at how his timeline ended up, and while he himself was a tad jealous as Minnie smiled at Manfred, he couldn't help but wonder…What if it was all for the best? Why did he retire and become a conductor of all things?

"Isn't it obvious?" The Conductor's voice echoed in the Mayor's head as the symphony continued to escalate into madness. "**_Music is my only escape now_**, it started with Minnie. She can play the violin, ya know. During the time she spent going along with Manfred's plan to ignore me, I stumbled upon her in her garden practicin'. She's a wonderful violinist, and her music simply inspired me ta compose things and conduct the very music ya hear now."

This was true, as the music consisted of violins during the bridge as it repeated over and over.

"I don't want this emptiness in my soul anymore…Please, don't let my present be yer future. If there is one thing I'm supposed ta teach ya it's this: Quit lying ta yerself about how ya feel about her!" The Conductor screamed in the Mayor's head. Then Mayor Mickey was pulled away from the silhouette of the Conductor, who was still conducting his invisible symphony. "_Don't forget_!"

The Mayor suddenly woke up, strangely enough (to him at least) in a cold sweat. A look to the clock on the wall illuminated by the moonlight told him it was about four in the morning. Shaking off any uneasiness, he recalled everything in this so called "dream" and knew what he had to do later in the day.

However that which is to inevitably happen is better handled by more talented hands and from whence it came.


End file.
